Section 270.110  Responsibilities of the Department and the Office of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman

a)         The Department shall establish an Office of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman within the Department and provide for sufficient staff to carry out the State and federal statutory responsibilities of the program.

b)         The Office shall establish and maintain an Ombudsman Representative Registry as an official listing of those ombudsmen who are designated as representatives of the Office.

c)         The Department reserves the right to remove from the Ombudsman Representative Registry the name of any ombudsman representative who fails to meet, maintain, or comply with the standards and requirements of the program. Any ombudsman representative so removed shall not serve, nor represent themselves, as a representative of the ombudsman program.  The Department shall provide for notice of such removal to such individual, together with an opportunity to appeal the decision of the Department.

d)         The Office shall identify, investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of residents of long term care facilities relating to actions, inactions or decisions that may adversely affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of the residents (including the welfare and rights of the residents with respect to the appointment and activities of guardians and representative payees) of providers, or their representatives, of long term care facilities, of public agencies, or of social service agencies, which may adversely affect the health, safety, welfare or rights of such residents. (Section 4.04(c) of the Illinois Act on the Aging)

e)         The Department shall inform the residents about means of obtaining services provided by providers or agencies described in subsection (d) above.

f)         The Department shall provide administrative and technical assistance to entities designated as Sub-State Long Term Care Ombudsman Programs.

g)         The Department shall provide for training representatives of the Office.

h)         The Department shall promote the development of citizen organizations to participate in the program.

i)          The Office shall ensure that residents have access to the services provided through the Office and that the residents and complainants receive responses to complaints from representatives of the Office.

j)          The Office shall represent the interests of the residents before governmental agencies and seek administrative, legal, and other remedies to protect the health, safety, welfare, and rights of the residents.

k)         The Office shall analyze, comment on, and monitor the development and implementation of federal, State, and local laws, regulations, and other governmental policies and actions that pertain to the health, safety, welfare, and rights of the residents, with respect to the adequacy of long term care facilities and services in the State.

l)          The Office shall recommend any changes in such laws, regulations, policies, and actions as the Office determines to be appropriate.

m)        The Office shall facilitate public comment on the laws, regulations, policies, and actions.

n)         The Office shall provide technical support for the development of resident and family councils to protect the well-being and rights of residents.

o)         The Office shall carry out other activities consistent with the requirements of this Subpart.